The Sword and the Swan

Roberta Gellis is a master at writing historical fiction. I am reading her "Roselynde Chronicles" now, and each book is better than the next. "The Sword And The Swan," the prequel to the chronicles, is an excellent account of a turbulent time in English history, but it is more history than novel. The focus here is on the action and the politics of the period. The only character who is really developed is the warrior Rannulf, or the "Sword," of the title. Ms. Gellis' research is meticulous, as always, and she makes sense and clarity of a very confusing period in history. This is a book worth reading for the historic content alone. She also gives a most accurate, non-romanticized picture of medieval life in England.Henry Beauclerc was King Henry I, of England, and succeeded his brother William II, in 1100. After the Conquest, in 1066, William the Conqueror, and the two sons that followed him, worked to unite the Saxons and their Norman conquerors. King Henry I forced his barons to swear an oath of fealty to him, to accept his daughter, Empress Matilda, as his successor and future Queen of England, after his death. The majority of the Norman, (English), nobility repudiated their oath when Henry died, and seated Stephen of Blois, (a grandson of the first King William) on the throne. Henry had been an absolute monarch and ceded little power to the barons. They hoped that Stephen would be a weaker feudal king, more suited to their own needs.Stephen proved to be weak, indeed, and unable to control the barons, their armies, and struggles for power and more land. The kingdom was reduced to anarchy. Another claimant to the English throne arose from Anjou - Henry, son of Matilda. Many of the aristocracy, who had previously supported Stephen against Matilda, wanted Henry to take the throne from Stephen. Other nobles, who had never supported Stephen, and had remained loyal to their original oath, now supported Matilda's son. Stephen also had his armies, loyal followers and an ambitious, ruthless son, Eustace, who wanted to be king.I am sorry if I bored you with all the historic details. I assure you that Ms. Gellis does a much better job than I. However, this is exactly what the book is about - the last power struggle between Stephen of Blois and Henry of Anjou, who finally became King Henry II of England, a strong feudal king.Rannulf, the warrior knight, is loyal to Stephen, and much of the novel is about his relationship with the King and the reasons for his loyalty. Catherine, is Rannulf's third wife, and while Rannulf and Catherine's story gives the readers a clear portrait of a woman's place in this medieval world, it is not a traditional romance. More time is spent in battle and than in the bedroom. There is more talk of war and politics than talk of love. I do recommend reading "The Sword And The Swan," if only to familiarize yourself with English medieval history. This period and struggle is the framework for so much of England's later history.

The Sword and the Swan is first and foremost a historical.Though there is a romance between Ranulf and Catherine, we are not subjected to graphic sex scenes and heaving bosoms. Ms. Gellis leaves us at the bedroom door whenever the couple is together.Ranulf is a man of integrity and honor. When he pledges himself to King Stephen, he stands on his word in spite of the fact that Stephen is a terrible king. Ranulf is a gruff, outspoken, and sometimes rude man. When Catherine is given to him as a wife, he is moved by her beauty and soft voice. Up to this point he had found women to be stupid and a nuisance. After awhile he starts to appreciate his wife and see qualities in her that he never expected a woman to possess. Not knowing how to express tender feelings, he usually insults her or hurts her feelings unintentionally. Most of their problems stem from misunderstandings, though they love one another. The Sword and the Stone gives us a glimpse of battlefields and the men who give their all. Sometimes their lives are lost on the whim of a king who calls his subjects to war for no good reason. I believe readers who like to see stories told without skimming over the filth and hardships of the times will like this one.

Gellis is one of the very few historical or romance authors who are able to creat characters who belong to the times where the story is set. Nowhere is this as evident as in The Sword and the Swan. This is a prequel to the Roselynde chronicles (though Roselynde is never mentioned, the story of Alinor's grandfather, Ranulf Sire of Sleaford, during the unrest of King Stephen's last days. On the historical end, S & S is about Ranulf's relationship with Stephen. Ranulf is an honorable man who loves his king -- though he knows Stephen is not fit to rule. As Henry sweeps across England, Ranulf fights a war that he cannot win. As a romance, it is the story of Catherine who has lost everything, sire, husband, son and unborn daughter and freedom. As a reward for Ranulf's support, she is given to the Sire of Sleaford who cultivates rudeness and distrust of women -- but Catharine is no sniveling coward and she's not about to lose a family a second time. This book contains, among other things, some of the best written, intellegent, medieval battlescenes in print -- as well as the incredible characters that are Gellis's trademark.